By Edwin Cooney
Recent news that sixty-one percent of the delegates
attending the Boy Scouts of America annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas voted to
allow gays the opportunity to join their ranks is most encouraging.
Back in 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the Boy
Scouts had the right to set lifestyle standards for its members. So, that’s exactly what they did! Thus, until the annual meeting held May
22nd through May 24th, that decision was in force.
Now the ban on the admission of gay youngsters has been
lifted, although the ban on allowing adult leaders who are gay remains in
place. Reaction by some but not
all conservatives, angry and determined, against this decision has already
begun and American scouting may be in for a severe schism. What I was unaware of, however, until I
read a New York Times editorial praising this recent piece of news is that the
Girl Scouts of America have for years allowed girls and women who are gay to
become scouts and even leaders in the Girl Scout movement. Good for them!
So, what has kept the Boy Scouts of America from being just
as American as the Girl Scouts have been?
Might it be because…
Girl Scouts are more patriotic than Boy Scouts? Girls and
women control themselves better than men and boys do? Girl Scouts are morally
superior to Boy Scouts? Or is it that women really and truly do possess more
good sense than men?!
Of course, young people have a reputation for being less
controlled than adults when it comes to sexual behavior, but, as I see it,
that’s all the more reason for bringing them together in a positive and
responsibly supervised environment like scouting.
Recently, a thoughtful friend of mine brought the news of
the Boy Scouts’ recent action to my attention and issued forth the following
set of concerns:
His first concern was whether the admission of gays to the
Boy Scouts might (and he was not at all certain of this likelihood) be creating
an environment that could affect the sexual orientation of otherwise “straight”
impressionable teenage boys.
His second concern was even more thought compelling. If it is perfectly safe to mix gay and
“straight” hormone-driven teenagers, wouldn’t it be just as safe to mix Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts in the same environment? We’d then have the United Scouts of America!
His third concern was more an observation that not everyone
needs to join every organization open to the public.
My friend’s first concern about environment being a factor
in a teenager’s choice of sexual orientation makes sense, since we’re all
affected by environmental factors, but it’s my guess that heterosexual mores
having been drummed into their awareness invariably have a far greater
influence than homosexual proximity.
My friend’s second question is really compelling except that
it leaves out the most important factor.
Appropriate behavior is understood to be a vital function in the life of
every organization. Scouting is
not about sexual activity.
Engagement in any sexual activity whatsoever can and should be grounds
for immediate separation from scouting just as discovery of theft or personal
harassment would be.
As for my friend’s third point, of course not everyone has
the need to belong to every organization, but the question at issue isn’t one
of individual need, as I see it, it’s a freedom of choice issue.
Of course, there are sexual prudes and perverts in every
organization conceived by humankind, but their activities are more uncommon
than most realize. To be heterosexual
isn’t a guarantor of appropriate behavior any more than being gay is a sign of
bad behavior. Homosexuals and
heterosexuals alike:
Love their parents, teachers, and friends; revere their
country; are often brave when they’re scared; enjoy good food and good beer;
have more nonsexual friends and associates than they do sexual partners; and
are both fickle and loyal to their partners. Finally, and perhaps shockingly to some, gays can be very
politically conservative.
As for our reluctance to mix the pure with the impure or the
sinner with the sinless, several things need to be said:
If you are someone fearful of being tainted by someone
else’s sin, fear not, for you can be quite sure that in some way or another you
are just as sinful as your gay or lesbian neighbor. Nowhere in the Ten Commandments is homosexuality mentioned
as a “shalt not” while the heterosexual practice of adultery is specifically
addressed.
Remember that Jesus hung out with more sinners than He did
saints.
And keep in mind that Jesus expects you to love your
neighbor as you do yourself and that can’t be practiced by disassociation.
The Girl Scouts have been right for at least a decade. It’s time for the Boy Scouts to catch
up.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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